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Cape Town - Shakes Mashaba believes Bafana Bafana have reached a "turning point", but feels there needs to be more of an investment in the country's youth development if they are to become a continental powerhouse.
Read: Hunt hails 'fantastic' Bafana
South Africa secured qualification to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations this past weekend after seeing off Sudan 2-1, a result which guaranteed them top spot in Group A ahead of Wednesday's final round of fixtures.
And while the country is understandably on a high, having qualified for a first major tournament since 2008, Mashaba continues to look towards the future where investing in youth players is his main priority.
"I spoke to the (SAFA) president (Danny Jordaan) and said, 'We're not doing well. And it's not because Bafana are not doing well, it's the junior teams that aren't qualifying for these tournaments'," Mashaba told The Sowetan.
"I don't know which country has good junior structures and does not manage to perform. If we talk about a turning point, the gods of football are smiling on us. And we need to capitalise on that."
South Africa will close out the qualifying campaign away to defending AFCON champions Nigeria on Wednesday, where the Super Eagles need only match Congo's result against Sudan to book their place in next year's showpiece event, which will be staged in Equatorial Guinea.
Kick-off is at 19:00.
